Karl Rathgen (December 6, 1856,

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...

- November 4, 1921,

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

) was a German economist. He was the first Chancellor of the

University of Hamburg The University of Hamburg (german: link=no, Universität Hamburg, also referred to as UHH) is a public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('' Allgemeines Vor ...

. After studying in

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

, Halle,

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

and

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, he passed the first state examination in

Naumburg Naumburg () is a town in (and the administrative capital of) the district Burgenlandkreis, in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany. It has a population of around 33,000. The Naumburg Cathedral became a UNES ...

in 1880 in Naumburg and earned his doctorate (Dr. rer. pol.) in 1882 with a thesis on the Making of markets in Germany from the University of Straßburg. From 1882 to 1890, he taught Public Law, Statistics and Administration Science at the Imperial

University of Tokyo , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...

and was also an adviser to the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce. In 1892, Rathgen passed his

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including a ...

at the Friedrich Wilhelms University of Berlin and the following years was appointed extraordinary, in 1895 ordinary Professor of the

University of Marburg The Philipps University of Marburg (german: Philipps-Universität Marburg) was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Protestant university in the wor ...

. From 1900 to 1903, he was temporarily in charge of

Max Weber Maximilian Karl Emil Weber (; ; 21 April 186414 June 1920) was a German sociologist, historian, jurist and political economist, who is regarded as among the most important theorists of the development of modern Western society. His ideas profo ...

s Chair at

University of Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

. In 1907, he received funding from the

Hamburg Scientific Foundation The Hamburg Scientific Foundation (german: Hamburgische Wissenschaftliche Stiftung) was founded in Hamburg in 1907 to support academic research and its dissemination in that city. Werner von Melle promoted the project from early 1907, raising 3.8 ...

becomiung a Professor at the newly established

Hamburg Colonial Institute The Hamburg Colonial Institute (german: Hamburgisches Kolonialinstitut) was a higher education establishment founded in 1908 by the City of Hamburg with the support of Bernhard Dernburg, head of the Imperial Colonial Office. In 1919 he was merged ...

the following year. After its transformation into the

in 1919, he took over the chair of

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

, Colonial policy and

Public finance Public finance is the study of the role of the government in the economy. It is the branch of economics that assesses the government revenue and government expenditure of the public authorities and the adjustment of one or the other to achie ...

and became at the same time its first Chancellor. From 1913 to 1914, Rathgen taught as an Exchange Professor at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. He mostly came out with publications on

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and had a great impact on German perception of the economic development of Japan.

Works

Among others: * Japans Volkswirtschaft und Staatshaushalt (Japan's Economy and state budget). Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot 1891 * Die Japaner und ihre wirtschaftliche Entwicklung (The Japanese and their economic development). Leipzig: Teubner 1905. * Staat und Kultur der Japaner (State and Culture of the Japanese). Bielefeld, Leipzig: Velhagen & Klasing 1907. * Die Japaner in der Weltwirtschaft (The Japanese in the World Economy). Leipzig: Teubner 1911.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rathgen, Karl 1856 births 1921 deaths Politicians from Weimar People from Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach National-Social Association politicians German economists Academic staff of the University of Hamburg Academic staff of the University of Tokyo